Coincidences and Images of Laos

Luang Prabang meaning Big Budha

The night market

Selling delicious goodies for breakfast

Sunset on the Mekong

    So it was back to work yesterday while most of you were enjoying a long weekend and despite the long journey of a ten hour bus ride, the flight to Kuala Lumpur, then KK and then finally the drive up the mountain, I felt invigorated and rested after my lovely visit to Laos People's Democratic Republic. I felt that I knew very little of Laos' history except that I have been a fan of Colin Cotterill's detective books featuring Dr. Siri, which is set in Laos and I realised that some of that knowledge had stuck but certainly not enough. His latest book "Slash and Burn" highlights the terrible damage, destruction and bombs dumped by the Americans during the Vietnam war despite Laos being a neutral country.There are still many people today who lose limbs or their lives from the cluster bombs, despite the government insisting  they are all cleared. There are over 50 ethnic groups and it has been a Socialist country since the long bloody civil war between the Royal Lao Army and the Communist Pathet Lao. They finally won in 1975 (with the help of Russia) and captured the King and made him work in the padi fields. Strangely, his Palace is now a museum in Luang Prabang and has been left exactly as it was and the people don't appear to bear him any grudge nowadays. It was a French protectorate from 1893 until 1953 and the French influence is still very prevalent and les baguettes and les Francais too. I think there has been a lot of discrimination and ill treatment of the Hmong hill tribe in the past but as a tourist passing through for a week I was touched by their friendliness and warmth and appreciated their very laid back approach to us tourists.

A master weaver at work

Natural dyes on the line

 Paper objects made from mulberry bark

 As I was standing in the queue to check in at Laos airport ,I heard the unmistakeable accent of someone from Northern Ireland and after staring some more I realised that I had met this person. It was Geraldine, who was a great friend and colleague of Jane's, who died last year. We had met very briefly at Jane's house on New Year's Eve and if she hadn't spoken I wouldn't have known her. Anyway it was lovely to meet her and we were able to have a long chat about the tragic death of Jane and how everyone in her family were coping and how she and Jane's close friends were managing without her. It is a small world and we will definitely keep in touch now that fate threw us together.

Not sure how safe it is!

Monk roofers at work